IN BRIEF (Page 2)

First lady backs anti-AIDS drive

China's first lady, Peng Liyuan, has pledged to support health programs in Africa to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Speaking at an event in Johannesburg on Dec 5, she said China would consistently support efforts by countries, the World Health Organization and the United Nations to improve disease prevention and control on the continent.

First ladies from 10 African nations attended the event along with Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS, and Margaret Chan, WHO director-general.

Peng was in South Africa with President Xi Jinping, who was attending the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit.

Steps taken to combat fake Living Buddhas

China is to set up a online database of Living Buddhas to crack down on imitators, the government has said. Living Buddhas are specially gifted and high ranking Tibetan monks.

Conmen posing as Living Buddhas have posed threats to national security, as they use money they collect to sponsor illegal or even separatist activities in Tibet, according to the authorities. There have also been reports of imitators cheating people out of their savings and committing sexual assault.

Think tank: Inbound tourism bouncing back

China's struggling inbound tourism industry has shown signs of rebounding, according to a new report.

Visits by overseas tourists surpassed 100 million between January and October, up 4.4 percent on the same period last year, according to data released by think tank China Tourism Academy.

The total revenue from inbound tourism reached $47.4 billion (43.6 billion euros), up 0.9 percent, while foreign visitors spent $28.5 billion, the report says.

131 elected to top science academies

Scientists from innovative enterprises have been awarded the highest honor of the Chinese science community, representing new research directions in 3-D printing, big data and next-generation Internet.

On Dec 7, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering announced the results of a new membership election. Sixty-one scientists were elected members of the science academy, and 70 were elected to the engineering academy.

The biennial election is the highest accolade for scientists in China. Of the 70 new CAE members, 13 work for innovative enterprises, while others are from universities, research institutes and hospitals.

Drone makers turning to farmland

China's drone producers are heading to the countryside as the government steps up restrictions in cities.

A provisional regulation on operating light-duty civilian drones, which will ban small, unmanned aerial vehicles from delivering packages to urban residents, is being drafted by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The news was disclosed by Ke Yubao, executive secretary-general of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of China. There have also been reports of urban drones interrupting the flight paths of aircraft or hitting high-voltage power lines.

Sick panda rescued from the wild

A giant panda with a lung infection has been rescued from the wild, the China Research and Conservation Center of the Giant Panda said on Dec 7. The 16-year-old male was discovered on Nov 30 lying in a gully in Ya'an, Sichuan province. It was later taken to the center's Dujiangyan base for treatment.

Campaign against graft to intensify

China's top anti-graft watchdog will intensify inspections of government departments and state-owned organizations next year.

The Central Commission of Disciplinary Inspection has completed eight rounds of inspections since late 2012, and will finish inspecting financial institutions by the end of this year, said Luo Liping, a CCDI official in charge of organizing inspections.

Web opens horizon for Confucius Institutes

A combination of online and offline instruction will optimize the teaching of Chinese language and culture, experts said at the 10th Confucius Institute Conference in Shanghai on Dec 6.

According to experts, the geographic distribution of Confucius Institutes is multilayered, diversified and widespread. This year, 25 institutes and 149 Confucius Classrooms for primary and secondary school students were set up, bringing the total to 500 and 1,000 respectively. These institutes and classrooms are located in 134 countries and have more than 1.9 million registered students.

SCO to tackle economy, terrorism challenges

Government leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will lay out "important plans" to tackle regional challenges including terrorism and the economic downturn, Vice-Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said Dec 8.

Cheng made the remarks at a news conference about the 14th SCO prime ministers' meeting, to be held in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, on Dec 14 and 15.

The SCO meeting will lay out a series of plans on the "top priority fields and the most urgent tasks" in regional cooperation, including merging China's Belt and Road Initiative with the development strategies of countries in the region, Cheng said.

Couple confesses in death of baby

Two young lovers confessed to stabbing a newly-born baby to death during their trial on Dec 8 at the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court, officials said.

Wang Pei, 23, was charged with homicide, and her boyfriend, Qiao Yang, 21, was charged with destruction of evidence, according to the Beijing No 1 People's Procuratorate.

Wang, a native of Hebei province, allegedly stabbed the baby boy with scissors, after the birth at around 8 am on April 23, the prosecutors said, adding that the infant was confirmed dead at noon.

After the baby's birth, Wang called Qiao, a college student in Hebei, and asked him to pack the infant in clothes and bed sheets. Later, they moved to a hotel near Wang's apartment, prosecutors said.

The next morning, Qiao allegedly discarded the baby in a dustbin next to the hotel, aiming to destroy evidence, prosecutors said.

Olympic champion joins faculty amid controversy

The appointment of former Olympic table tennis champion Deng Yaping as an adjunct professor at China University of Political Science and Law was confirmed on Dec 6.

Deng won four Olympic gold medals - in 1992 and 1996 - but recently found herself in the spotlight again when the university said it would hire her to help build the varsity table tennis program.

Some questioned the procedural legality of the move as well as Deng's competency for an academic role. The school said proper procedures for faculty appointments were followed.

Tu's residence listed as historical site

The childhood home of Chinese Nobel laureate for medicine Tu Youyou has been listed as a historical site in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

Tu, 85, lived at the house until she went to a university in Beijing in the 1950s. It forms part of a complex of 37 traditional buildings covering 2,200 square meters, which were transformed into a high-end art and commercial zone in 2011.

More than 400 sites were designated by the Ningbo government as historical ones on Dec 8, including Tu's former home, which is owned by Ningbo Real Estate Inc Co, the contractor for the transformation project.

The house was built about 100 years ago by Tu's maternal grandfather Yao Yongbai.

Foreign economists to advise on new plan

The State Council has said that for the first time it is seeking advice from top foreign economists on China's new five-year plan.

The move is aimed at ensuring the development blueprint, which covers 2016 to 2020, will meet the reality of local conditions and help China to avoid the "middle-income trap", Premier Li Keqiang said at a seminar during a visit to the National Development and Reform Commission on Dec 7.

International economists such as Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate in economics, and Jonathan Woetzel, Shanghai office director for McKinsey and Co, took part in the seminar.

Power for ministries to be clarified

Chinese leaders decided on Dec 9 in an unprecedented move to introduce binding rules setting limits on officials' power.

This will be carried out through the publication of a list for all ministries of the State Council, or China's Cabinet.

The decision was announced along with several other reform initiatives for next year at a meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping and attended by Premier Li Keqiang and other leaders. A date for the publication of the power lists for all ministries was not announced as a part of a statement released after the meeting.

The State Council consists of 25 ministries and ministry-level commissions, and about 50 direct subsidiary and affiliated bodies.

Major overhaul of govt auditing set

China's top policymakers issued a guideline on Dec 8 for building up an extensive auditing system by 2020 to facilitate the country's modern governance.

The document calls for efficient auditing mechanisms to be established that target the use of public funds and state assets, exploitation of state-owned resources and government officials' role in economic affairs.

The move is intended to safeguard national economic security, restructuring, the rule of law and clean governance, the document said. It also stressed the importance of the independence and supervision of the audit system.

Nation's gold holdings continue to rise

China increased its gold holdings for the fifth consecutive month in November, the fastest growth rate since June, to back a stronger currency in the global financial system, according to central bank data on Dec 8.

The country's total foreign exchange reserves, however, shrank by $87 billion last month, the biggest fall since August's record-high monthly drop of $93.9 billion.

Statistics from the People's Bank of China showed gold reserves rose by 670,000 fine troy ounces, or 20.84 metric tons, to 56.05 million ounces, or 1,743.35 tons, at the end of November.

CPI increase of 1.5% fueled by food costs

The consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, grew 1.5 percent year-on-year in November, up from a rise of 1.3 percent in October, official data showed on Dec 9.

The reading was slightly higher than a 1.4 percent increase for the first 11 months, China's National Bureau of Statistics said.

The bureau attributed the increase mainly to rising food prices, as vegetable prices surged 9.4 percent year-on-year last month, while prices for meat and poultry products rose 6.2 percent. On a monthly basis, consumer prices stayed flat.

Aging of population risks workforce cuts

The number of working-age adults in China could shrink by more than 10 percent by 2040, a World Bank report said on Dec 9. It would mean a net loss of 90 million workers.

East Asia is aging faster than any other region in history, according to the report. The bank warns the rapid pace and sheer scale raises policy challenges, economic and fiscal pressure, and social risks.

"Without reforms, for example, pension spending in the region is projected to increase by 8 to 10 percent of GDP by 2070," the report said.

Professor sacked for disturbance on flight

A Chinese university has sacked a visiting professor who caused a disturbance on a flight due to leave Shanghai for New York.

Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in the western city of Chengdu said it fired Lu Yong after he was removed from a United Airlines flight on Dec 6.

Police reports say Lu had demanded an upgrade to first class prior to takeoff but was refused. Once on the flight he sat in a first-class seat and refused to leave when asked by cabin crew. He also allegedly attacked three police officers called to remove him from the plane.

China's nuclear output to grow by year-end

China is forecast to have 30 nuclear reactors in operation by the end of 2015, with plans to promote inland nuclear projects over the next five years, a senior official said on Dec 8.

Liu Baohua, head of nuclear power for the National Energy Administration, said 27 plants are already in operation, but that number would rise as another three units are undergoing testing and likely to be commissioned this month.

"By then, the total installed capacity would hit 28.3 gigawatts," he said.

Survey: Firms see sharp rise in cyberattacks

Companies on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong are waging war against cybercriminals, a survey has found.

The average number of detected security incidents surged 517 percent to 1,245 over the past 12 months, compared with an average 241 in 2014, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Global State of Information Security Survey released on Dec 7.

The average financial loss caused by cybercrimes rose 10 percent year-on-year to $2.63 million, in contrast to a 5 percent decline globally.

Tibet now a major winter habitat for rare crane

Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region has become the world's largest winter habitat for a critically endangered crane, thanks to conservation efforts and greater public awareness.

Tibet is the temporary home to 7,000 to 8,000 black-necked cranes, around 70 percent of the global total. Fewer than 3,000 cranes came to Tibet in 1995, according to Dawa Tsering, a researcher with the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences.

The birds are native to the plateau regions of China, India, Bhutan and Nepal. Attracted by a warm climate and abundant food, such as barley, wheat and roots, thousands migrate to Tibet's river valleys from mid-October and spend winter there.

Qomolangma glaciers shrink 28% in 40 years

Glaciers on Qomolangma, also known as Mount Everest, have shrunk by 28 percent over the past 40 years due to climate change, a report claims.

The glacier area on the south slope, in Nepal, has decreased 26 percent since the 1980s, according to the report released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hunan University of Science and Technology, and the Qomolangma Snow Leopard Conservation Center.

Kang Shichang, a researcher with the State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, said the data is based on long-term remote sensing and on-site monitoring.

(China Daily European Weekly 12/11/2015 page2)